Iranian official: New U.S. sanctions 'meaningless'
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Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said in Damascus?Thursday that new U.S. sanctions against Iran are "meaningless."
"We regard the U.S. practices as a hollow political movement," Larijani said at a press conference in the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
According to the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday will sign into law a new sanctions bill against Iran.
Larijani also played down the effect of the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council against Iran, warning that Iran will retaliate countries that check its ships.
"We have strong economic and military relationship with Russia, " he said, underlining that the Russian stance on the UN sanctions will not undermine the ties between Moscow and Tehran.
UN Security Council adopted last month a resolution on the Iranian nuclear issue, prohibiting Iran from investing abroad in nuclear and enrichment operations, imposing new restrictions on Iran's import of conventional arms and allowing the Iranian ships in the international water to be checked.
Concerning the extraordinary meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member states, which was held here on Wednesday, Larijani said the meeting decided to form a committee under the leadership of the Syrian Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash to study the lift of the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza and to demand the international community to punish Israel for its attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla.
